Our Web Desk
LAHORE: Pakistan’s men’s national football team snapped a long winless streak in spectacular fashion on Thursday, defeating Maldives 3-0 to secure their first victory of the Diamond Jubilee International Football Tournament.
The emphatic result marks Pakistan’s first international football triumph in over two years. It also represents a historic milestone for the Pakistan team, who registered their first victory over Maldives since the 1991 South Asian Federation (SAF) Games final.
The win is the first under the tenure of newly appointed head coach and former Newcastle United winger Nolberto Solano.
Despite dominating territory and possession in a cagey first half, Pakistan struggled to break down a well-organized Maldivian defense on a difficult, uneven pitch.
The tactical deadlock finally broke in the second half. Midfielder Hayyan Khattak unleashed a powerful, rasping drive from distance that the Maldivian goalkeeper failed to hold. Striker Umer Nawaz reacted quickest to the spill, poaching the loose ball to bundle it home and give the hosts the lead.
Forced to chase an equalizer, the Maldives shifted to an aggressive offensive formation. The visitors carved out two clear-cut scoring opportunities but lacked the clinical edge to convert them.
As the Maldives pushed numbers forward, they left vacant corridors in midfield and defense. Pakistan’s technical staff exploited these gaps by introducing fresh attacking substitutes.
In the 83rd minute, substitute Abdul Samad Arshad capitalized on a swift counter-attack, calmly caressing the ball past the oncoming goalkeeper to double the lead.
Four minutes later, fellow substitute Harun Hamid sealed the victory. His 87th-minute strike took a heavy deflection off a Maldivian defender, looping over the helpless goalkeeper to complete the 3-0 scoreline.
The victory puts Pakistan in a strong position ahead of their high-stakes encounter against neighbors Afghanistan on Saturday.
“Most importantly, we got the three points, and we got them in the right manner,” said Pakistan captain Abdullah Iqbal. “Even after scoring the first goal, we knew we had to stay focused and keep our shape so they couldn’t hurt us on the counter. I’m happy that the team kept playing with the same intensity.”
Head coach Nolberto Solano praised his team’s defensive discipline under challenging playing conditions.
“We knew that in the second half teams normally begin to tire, and we would start finding spaces,” Solano said. “The surface did not help either side very much. It was genuinely difficult for the players to play the kind of football we want to play. But the plan worked.”
